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Passaic County Sheriff's Officer Charged with Providing Cell Phone Access to Inmates

Paterson

Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes and Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik announce the arrest of Wade Hyman, age 49, of Newport News, Virginia.

Wade Hyman was arrested without incident on March 17, 2017, at approximately 10:00 a.m., in Totowa, by members the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office. Mr. Hyman was charged on the same date by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office with one count of second degree Use of Certain Electronic Devices in Correctional Facilities in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:29-10d. This statute prohibits an employee of a county correctional facility from knowingly selling, transferring, assigning, providing or otherwise giving an electronic communication device to a person who is confined in a county correctional facility.

A second degree offense carries a maximum term of ten years in New Jersey State Prison. The charge was placed on a summons.

On January 20, 2017, Mr. Hyman was employed as a corrections officer by the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office at the Passaic County Jail. On that date, Mr. Hyman allegedly provided access to his personal cellular telephone to an inmate to communicate with an individual outside the Passaic County Jail.

The matter was investigated by the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation in this matter remains ongoing.

At this time, further information will not be released so as not to jeopardize the safety of persons involved or to jeopardize the investigation in progress.

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. Despite this accusation, the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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